The Digitalised Terrorism Ecology: A Systems Perspective

Authors

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.23962/10539/29196

Abstract

This study uses a systematic review methodology to interpret existing literature on the digital dimensions of contemporary terrorism and counter-terrorism. Using the theory of synergetics as a guiding analytical framework, the study conducts meta-synthesis of relevant literature, including application of soft systems methodology (SSM), in order to generate conceptualisation of a digitalised terrorism ecology. This ecology comprises five interacting sub-systems: open digital infrastructure; digital information ecology; digital terrorism enactment; digital capabilities; and digital enslavement.

References

Alhojailan, M. I. (2012). Thematic analysis: A critical review of its process and evaluation.West East Journal of Social Sciences, 1(1), 39–47.

Ammar, J. (2019). Cyber gremlin: Social networking, machine learning and the global war on Al-Qaida- and IS-inspired terrorism. International Journal of Law and Information Technology, 27(3), 238–265. https://doi.org/10.1093/ijlit/eaz006 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1093/ijlit/eaz006

Asongu, S. A., Nnanna, J., Biekpe, N., & Acha-Anyi, P. N. (2019). Contemporary drivers of global tourism: Evidence from terrorism and peace factors. Journal of Travel C Tourism Marketing, 36(3), 345–357. https://doi.org/10.1080/10548408.2018.1541778 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/10548408.2018.1541778

Autio, E., Nambisan, S., Thomas, L. D. W., & Wright, M. (2018). Digital affordances, spatial affordances, and the genesis of entrepreneurial ecosystems. Strategic Entrepreneurship Journal, 12(1), 72–95. https://doi.org/10.1002/sej.1266 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1002/sej.1266

Bartolucci, V. (2019). The discourse on terrorism of Donald Trump. In J. Kowalski (Ed.), Reading Donald Trump: A parallax view of the campaign and early presidency (pp. 127– 147). Cham, Switzerland: Springer. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-93179-1_7 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-93179-1_7

Benson, D. C. (2014). Why the internet is not increasing terrorism. Security Studies, 23(2) 293–328. https://doi.org/10.1080/09636412.2014.905353 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/09636412.2014.905353

Bergvall-Kåreborn, B., Mirijamdotter, A., & Basden, A. (2004). Basic principles of SSM modeling: An examination of CATWOE from a soft perspective. Systemic Practice and Action Research, 17(2), 55–73. https://doi.org/10.1023/b:spaa.0000018903.18767.18 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1023/B:SPAA.0000018903.18767.18

Bertram, L. (2016). Terrorism, the internet and the social media advantage: Exploring how terrorist organizations exploit aspects of the internet, social media and how these same platforms could be used to counter violent extremism. Journal for Deradicalization, 7, 225–252.

Blaker, L. (2015). The Islamic State’s use of online social media. Military Cyber Affairs, 1(1), 4. https://doi.org/10.5038/2378-0789.1.1.1004 DOI: https://doi.org/10.5038/2378-0789.1.1.1004

Braun, V., Clarke, V., & Terry, G. (2014). Thematic analysis. In P. Rohleder & A. C. Lyons (Eds.), Qualitative research in clinical and health psychology (pp. 95–114). Basingstoke, UK: Palgrave Macmillan.

Burtch, G., Carnahan, S., & Greenwood, B. N. (2018). Can you gig it? An empirical examination of the gig economy and entrepreneurial activity. Management Science, 64(12), 5497–5520. https://doi.org/10.1287/mnsc.2017.2916 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1287/mnsc.2017.2916

Campana, A., & Légaré, K. (2010). Russia’s counterterrorism operation in Chechnya: Institutional competition and issue frames. Studies in Conflict C Terrorism, 34(1), 47–63. https://doi.org/10.1080/1057610x.2011.531458 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/1057610X.2011.531458

Carty, V., & Barron, F. G. R. (2019). Social movements and new technology: The dynamics of cyber activism in the digital age. In B. Berberglu (Ed.), The Palgrave handbook of social movements, revolution, and social transformation (pp. 373–397). Cham, Switzerland: Springer. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-92354-3_16 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-92354-3_16

Carugati, A., Fernández, W., Mola, L., & Rossignoli, C. (2018). My choice, your problem ? Mandating IT use in large organisational networks. Information Systems Journal, 28(1), 6–47. https://doi.org/10.1111/isj.12120 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/isj.12120

Castells, M. (2011). The rise of the network society: The information age: Economy, society, and culture, volume 1 (2nd ed.). Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley & Sons.

Cecez-Kecmanovic, D., Galliers, R. D., Henfridsson, O., Newell, S., & Vidgen, R. (2014). The sociomateriality of information systems: Current status, future directions. MIS Quarterly, 38(3), 809–830. https://doi.org/10.25300/misq/2014/38:3.3 DOI: https://doi.org/10.25300/MISQ/2014/38:3.3

Checkland, P., & Scholes, J. (1990). Soft systems methodology in action. Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley & Sons.

Checkland, P. (1981). Systems thinking, systems practice. Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley & Sons. Daniel, E., Hartnett, E., & Meadows, M. (2017). Don’t throw rocks from the side-lines:

A sociomaterial exploration of organizational blogs as boundary objects. Information Technology C People, 30(3), 542–561. https://doi.org/10.1108/itp-02-2015-0036 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1108/ITP-02-2015-0036

Denning, D. E. (2010). Terror’s web: How the internet is transforming terrorism. In Y. Jewkes, & M. Yar, (Eds.), Handbook of internet crime (pp. 194–213). Milton, UK: Willan Publishing.

Doolin, B., & McLeod, L. (2012). Sociomateriality and boundary objects in information systems development. European Journal of Information Systems, 21(5), 570–586. https://doi.org/10.1057/ejis.2012.20 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1057/ejis.2012.20

Doosje, B., Moghaddam, F. M., Kruglanski, A. W., De Wolf, A., Mann, L., & Feddes, A. R. (2016). Terrorism, radicalization and de-radicalization. Current Opinion in Psychology, 11, 79-84. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.copsyc.2016.06.008 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.copsyc.2016.06.008

Dunn, W. N. (2015). Public policy analysis: An integrated approach (6th ed.). Abingdon, UK: Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781315663012 DOI: https://doi.org/10.4324/9781315663012

Finin, T., Joshi, A., Kolari, P., Java, A., Kale, A., & Karandikar, A. (2008). The information ecology of social media and online communities. AI Magazine, 29(3), 77–92. https://doi.org/10.1609/aimag.v29i3.2158 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1609/aimag.v29i3.2158

García-Marco, F. J. (2011). Libraries in the digital ecology: Reflections and trends. Electronic Library, 29(1), 105–120. https://doi.org/10.1108/02640471111111460 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1108/02640471111111460

Gillespie, M., Osseiran, S., & Cheesman, M. (2018). Syrian refugees and the digital passage to Europe: Smartphone infrastructures and affordances. Social Media + Society, January- March, 1–12. https://doi.org/10.1177/2056305118764440 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1177/2056305118764440

Hafez, M., & Mullins, C. (2015). The radicalization puzzle: A theoretical synthesis of empirical approaches to homegrown extremism. Studies in Conflict C Terrorism, 38(11), 958–975. https://doi.org/10.1080/1057610x.2015.1051375 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/1057610X.2015.1051375

Hajj, N., McEwan, P. J., & Turkington, R. (2019). Women, information ecology, and political protest in the Middle East. Mediterranean Politics, 24(1), 62–83. https://doi.org/10.1080/13629395.2017.1380116 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/13629395.2017.1380116

Haken, H. (1984). Can synergetics be of use to management theory? In H.-U. Gilbert, & J. B. Probst (Eds.), Self-organization and management of social systems: Insights, promises, doubts, and questions (pp. 33–41). Berlin: Springer. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-69762-3_3 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-69762-3_3

Hawi, D., Osborne, D., Bulbulia, J., & Sibley, C. G. (2019). Terrorism anxiety and attitudes toward Muslims. New Zealand Journal of Psychology, 48(1), 80–89.

Huberman, B. A. (2003). The laws of the web: Patterns in the ecology of information. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.

Kagwanja, P. (2006). Counter-terrorism in the Horn of Africa: New security frontiers, old strategies. African Security Studies, 15(3), 72–86. https://doi.org/10.1080/10246029.2006.9627608 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/10246029.2006.9627608

McLuhan, M., with Gordon, W. T., Lamberti, E., & Scheffel-Dunand, D. (2011). The Gutenberg galaxy: The making of typographic man. Toronto: University of Toronto Press. Merali, Y. (2006). Complexity and information systems: The emergent domain. Journal of Information Technology, 21(4), 216–228. https://doi.org/10.1057/palgrave.jit.2000081 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1057/palgrave.jit.2000081

Newman, E. (2006). Exploring the root causes of terrorism. Studies in Conflict C Terrorism, 29(8), 749–772. https://doi.org/10.1080/10576100600704069 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/10576100600704069

Ochara, N. M. (2014). Towards a regional ontology for e-participation: An ecological view. In P. M. Sebina, K. H. Moahi & K. J. Bwalya (Eds.), Digital access and e-government: Perspectives from developing and emerging countries (pp. 60–72). Hershey, PA: IGI Global. https://doi.org/10.4018/978-1-4666-5868-4.ch005 DOI: https://doi.org/10.4018/978-1-4666-5868-4.ch005

Ochara, N. M. (2013). Linking reasoning to theoretical argument in information systems research. AIS Electronic Library (AISeL), 1–11. Retrieved from http://aisel.aisnet.org/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1501&context=amcis2013

Odero, K., Ochara, N. M., & Quenum, J. (2017). Towards big data-driven logistics value chains for effective decision making and performance measurement. In Proceedings of the 11th European Conference on Information Systems Management (ECISM 2017), Genoa, Italy, 14-15 September. https://doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.2960510 DOI: https://doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.2960510

Omand, D. (2018). The threats from modern digital subversion and sedition. Journal of Cyber Policy, 3(1), 5–23. https://doi.org/10.1080/23738871.2018.1448097 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/23738871.2018.1448097

Paganini, P. (2016). The role of technology in modern terrorism. Madison, WI: InfoSec Institute.

Park, Y. A., & Gretzel, U. (2007). Success factors for destination marketing web sites: A qualitative meta-analysis. Journal of Travel Research, 46(1), 46–63. https://doi.org/10.1177%2F0047287507302381 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1177/0047287507302381

Plantin, J.-C., Lagoze, C., Edwards, P. N., & Sandvig, C. (2018). Infrastructure studies meet platform studies in the age of Google and Facebook. New Media C Society, 20(1), 293–310. https://doi.org/10.1177/1461444816661553 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1177/1461444816661553

Rittel, H. W., & Webber, M. M. (1973). 2.3 planning problems are wicked problems. In N. Cross (Ed.), Developments in design methodology. Chichester, UK: John Wiley & Sons.

Schmitt, M., Eid, M., & Maes, J. (2003). Synergistic person x situation interaction in distributive justice behavior. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 29(1), 141–147. https://doi.org/10.1177/0146167202238379 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1177/0146167202238379

Schuurman, B. (2019). Topics in terrorism research: Reviewing trends and gaps, 2007–2016. Critical Studies on Terrorism, 12(3), 463–480. https://doi.org/10.1080/17539153.2019.1579777 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/17539153.2019.1579777

Sela-Shayovitz, R., & Dayan, H. (2019). Female Palestinian terrorists: The role of the Intifada period and the terrorism context. Studies in Conflict C Terrorism, 1–18. https://doi.org/10.1080/1057610x.2019.1575027 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/1057610X.2019.1575027

Sirgy, M. J., Estes, R. J., El-Aswad, E.-S., & Rahtz, D. R. (2019). Proposed response: Counterterrorism strategies focusing on the demand side of the terrorism market. In Combatting Jihadist terrorism through nation-building: A quality-of-life perspective (pp. 149–173). Cham, Switzerland: Springer. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-17868-0_8 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-17868-0_8

Statista. (2019). Global digital population as of July 2019 [Web page]. Retrieved from https://www.statista.com/statistics/617136/digital-population-worldwide/

Swanson, E. B., & Ramiller, N. C. (1997). The organizing vision in information systems innovation. Organization Science, 8(5), 458–474. https://doi.org/10.1287/orsc.8.5.458 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1287/orsc.8.5.458

Teigland, R., Holmberg, H., & Felländer, A. (2019). The importance of trust in a digital Europe: Reflections on the sharing economy and blockchains. In A. B. Engelbrekt, N. Bremberg, A. Michalski, & L. Oxelheim (Eds.), Trust in the European Union in challenging times (pp. 181–209). Cham, Switzerland: Springer. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-73857-4_9 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-73857-4_9

Tuten, T., & Mintu-Wimsatt, A. (2018). Advancing our understanding of the theory and practice of social media marketing: Introduction to the special issue. Journal of Marketing Theory and Practice, 26(1–2), 1–3. https://doi.org/10.1080/10696679.2018.1393277 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/10696679.2018.1393277

Weißenfels, S., Ebner, K., Dittes, S., & Smolnik, S. (2016). Does the IS artifact matter in sociomateriality research? A literature review of empirical studies. In 2016 49th Hawaii International Conference on System Sciences (HICSS), Koloa, 5–8 January. https://doi.org/10.1109/hicss.2016.252 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1109/HICSS.2016.252

Downloads

Published

30-06-2020

Issue

Section

Research Articles

How to Cite

Ochara, N.M., Odhiambo, N.A. and Kadyamatimba, A. (2020) “The Digitalised Terrorism Ecology: A Systems Perspective”, The African Journal of Information and Communication (AJIC) [Preprint], (25). doi:10.23962/10539/29196.